# WhatsApp messaging

Choose a WhatsApp sender, use approved templates for business-initiated messages, and keep replies on one Bow Chat thread.

## Sending on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the senders available once [Messaging CPaaS](/communications/overview) is installed. Choosing it does not change how a campaign is built: the audience, composer, schedule, suppression and delivery record are the same for every channel.

What differs is the sender, and WhatsApp senders come in three classes.

| Sender class | What it is | When it is ready |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-connected number | A number your organization already owns and has connected | Ready as soon as the connection is active |
| Boni-managed number | A Boni number enabled for your workspace | Ready only when Boni has explicitly enabled it for that workspace |
| Allocated DID | A number allocated to you from Boni inventory | Not usable until allocation and channel setup are complete |

A connected number stays yours. Connecting it to Boni gives the workspace permission to send and to receive replies through it; it does not transfer ownership of the number.

## Business-initiated messages need an approved template

WhatsApp itself requires that a business-initiated message use a template the channel has approved in advance. Free-form replies are possible only inside an open conversation started by the customer.

In practice this means:

- Build and get approval for the template before you plan the send, not on the day.
- Variables in a template are filled per recipient from the audience record.
- A campaign to a cold audience is always a template send.

## Replies come back to one place

Replies land in the Bow Chat conversation for that contact, so the campaign, the reply and the follow-up sit on one thread rather than in a separate campaign tool. Where CRM is enabled, that conversation is visible on the relationship record.

## Consent and suppression

Suppression is enforced centrally across channels, so a contact who has opted out is excluded regardless of which channel a later campaign uses. Consent for WhatsApp contact is your responsibility as the sender; Boni enforces the suppression decision but cannot supply consent you do not have.

## Before your first send

| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| The sender is ready | An allocated DID that is still being set up cannot send |
| The template is approved | An unapproved template will not deliver |
| The audience is the one you meant | Audience is chosen once and recorded on the campaign |
| Applicable channel charges are understood | WhatsApp messaging carries channel charges confirmed during setup |

Related: [Communications overview](/communications/overview), [Channel availability](/communications/channel-availability), [Email](/communications/email).

Canonical: https://docs.boni.one/communications/whatsapp
Version: 1
Updated: 2026-08-19T04:55:39.164Z